Eastern Washington University students, faculty and alumni gathered on April 17 in the Catalyst Building for an immersive simulation designed to deepen understanding of the global refugee experience.
The event, called IRL Refugee Immersion Experience, was a collaboration between EWU students and Spokane-based refugee advocacy organization Thrive International. It aimed to educate participants on the realities of forced displacement through hands-on, scenario-based learning.
Small groups moved through a series of stations, each one representing a different aspect of the refugee journey: Fleeing danger, navigating foreign systems, learning a new language and facing formal interviews.
Participants took on the names and backgrounds of real refugees — some were asked to read scripts in unfamiliar languages; others were subjected to foreign citizenship quizzes.
Though just a simulation, the experience left some participants feeling shocked, overwhelmed and reflective.
“That’s the IRL piece — in real life.” Ann Le Bar said.
Le bar is a professor at EWU. It was the students in her honors Refugee Voices course who built the first phase of the experience: A 45-minute presentation and accompanying resource guide, which all participants view before beginning the simulation.
Originally rooted in texts like diaries, oral histories, and fiction written by refugees themselves, the class shifted its focus when the collaboration with Thrive International emerged.
“The Thrive partnership happened at the very last minute,” said Le Bar. “I was still searching for a meaningful community service project the students could do… It all came together really fast.”
Students were tasked with building a presentation that would humanize forced displacement while preparing audiences for the gravity of the immersion experience.
The final product followed the fictionalized stories of a Ukrainian boy and an Afghan girl — two narratives that, according to Le Bar, were chosen to reflect real, ongoing global crises.
One of the students behind the project, sophomore education major Katie Kuhl, first encountered the refugee experience through the pages of her Refugee Voices course.
“Prior to winter quarter, I didn’t really have any knowledge about it,” Kuhl said. “I learned a lot during the class, and I’ve just continued to learn this quarter as I’m working as an intern.”
Kuhl helped develop the presentation materials during the winter quarter, then chose to continue her involvement into spring. She now is an intern with both EWU and Thrive International, collaborating closely with Le Bar and Pamela Thuswaldner, the professors of the class.
Together, Le Bar and Thuswaldner are working on a comprehensive resource guide that breaks down the complex network of policies, agencies and lived traumas that shape refugee experiences.
“Katie really grasped how important this project is for our community right now,” said Le Bar. “She plans to become an elementary school teacher, and continuing to work on the IRL experience fits with her passion for learning and sharing knowledge with others.”
Afterward, attendees gathered for a reflective debrief to share thoughts, reactions, and lingering questions. Le Bar said that the discomfort in the air at this point was an indication that the event was effective.
“The only way to understand [forced displacement] deeply is through sustained interactions with people who’ve lived through it,” she said.
Looking ahead, Thrive International plans to expand the IRL Refugee Immersion Experience to churches, schools, employers and other organizations in Spokane who want to better understand the experiences of refugees in their own community.
For Le Bar, the experience represents a meaningful model of what education can become: Immersive, emotional and rooted in lived experience.
“I hope the IRL immersion leaves participants with respect and understanding of refugees and asylum seekers as fully human individuals,” she said. “These are people who, because they’ve successfully endured unimaginable hardships, have so much to offer our community.”
